https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/arlington-monastery-no-longer-recognizing-authority-fort-worth-bishop-forbidding-him-from-property/287-2208dc06-ea40-4732-a506-d7319f8cc308

" ARLINGTON, Texas Even after a civil case against Fort Worth Bishop Michael Olson was dismissed, an Arlington monastery is still challenging him as they announced they no longer recognize Olson's authority, forbidding him from entering their property or contacting them.
The announcement, made Friday by the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns, also forbids any of Olson's officials or representatives from entering the property, or allowing any of them to contact the monastery or any of its nuns or novices. "

" This comes after Olson initiated an investigation into Reverend Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach, whom Olson accused of violating her vow of chastity with a priest from outside the Diocese of Fort Worth. The monastery had filed a civil suit against Olson, challenging his authority over the nuns and accusing him of theft and defamation, but a judge dismissed that case at the end of June.
"No one who abuses us as has the current Bishop of Fort Worth, has any right to our cooperation or obedience," the monastery's statement reads.
The statement from the nuns said they must remain independent from Olson until "he repents of the abuse to which he has subjected us, apologizes in person to our community for it and accepts to make due public reparation."
Should that not happen, the statement said they hope the bishop's successor will be "a God-given instrument of that reparation and healing," which they say is due.
Despite not recognizing Olson's authority, the statement said the monastery still remains faithful to the doctrine of the Catholic Church and affirm that the Pope and the Bishop of Fort Worth, whomever it may be in the future, will always be prayed for. "

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Sounds pretty Byzantine (no pun intended). Is this a power struggle over property? I understand the monastery land was gifted to the sisters by a descendant of Amon Carter.

I don't know for sure but maybe this thread with help.

jkag89 said:

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I don't know for sure but maybe this thread with help.

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So the bishop is trying to strip the monastery's assets? Sounds like she has had issues, but also a lot of support. Who actually owns the land and buildings? The diocese or the monastery? Not sure how that works with RCC.

Honestly, I don't know.

Here's some background on this sh/t show

https://www.thedailybeast.com/dangerously-rebellious-texas-nuns-ban-bishop-michael-olson-for-spiritual-safety?ref=scroll

Bishop Michael Olson is probably one of the top 5 Bishops in the USA; the nuns are an extremely progressive group who have made the leftist cause du jour their primary focus rather than praying for the salvation of the world.

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This comes after Olson initiated an investigation into Reverend Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach, whom Olson accused of violating her vow of chastity with a priest from outside the Diocese of Fort Worth.

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The sister in a wheelchair?

AggieRain said:

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Quote:

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This comes after Olson initiated an investigation into Reverend Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach, whom Olson accused of violating her vow of chastity with a priest from outside the Diocese of Fort Worth.

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The sister in a wheelchair?

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It wasn't a physical relationship. Apparently she had impure thoughts or something like that. I don't know where anyone gets that Olsen is a top 5 bishop, but from multiple people I know who have worked with him (or had run ins with him) he's a major ahole with a power trip. Basically, if you don't agree with, you're out. I think that's basically what is happening here.

AustinAg2K said:

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AggieRain said:

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Quote:

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This comes after Olson initiated an investigation into Reverend Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach, whom Olson accused of violating her vow of chastity with a priest from outside the Diocese of Fort Worth.

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The sister in a wheelchair?

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It wasn't a physical relationship. Apparently she had impure thoughts or something like that. I don't know where anyone gets that Olsen is a top 5 bishop, but from multiple people I know who have worked with him (or had run ins with him) he's a major ahole with a power trip. Basically, if you don't agree with, you're out. I think that's basically what is happening here.

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Well she claimed she "missed her period" after being with him, and admitted to sexting so it was more than just impure thoughts, and an investigation found evidence of an affair.

Between that and the drug paraphernalia this is far more than "the bishop is on a power trip"

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12240209/amp/Texas-bishop-releases-recording-nuns-confession-sexting.html

Dies Irae said:

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AustinAg2K said:

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AggieRain said:

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Quote:

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This comes after Olson initiated an investigation into Reverend Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach, whom Olson accused of violating her vow of chastity with a priest from outside the Diocese of Fort Worth.

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The sister in a wheelchair?

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It wasn't a physical relationship. Apparently she had impure thoughts or something like that. I don't know where anyone gets that Olsen is a top 5 bishop, but from multiple people I know who have worked with him (or had run ins with him) he's a major ahole with a power trip. Basically, if you don't agree with, you're out. I think that's basically what is happening here.

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Well she claimed she "missed her period" after being with him, and admitted to sexting so it was more than just impure thoughts, and an investigation found evidence of an affair.

Between that and the drug paraphernalia this is far more than "the bishop is on a power trip"

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12240209/amp/Texas-bishop-releases-recording-nuns-confession-sexting.html

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Ok, so they sexted. I'm still not sure how that's a big deal. As a Christian, I would think the Bishop would take a forgiving approach to things, but it doesn't seem he ever intended to do that. The fact that the Bishop is recording conversations gives me a lot of pause. I think it strengthens the point that he's looking for ways to increase his grip on things. I certainly would think twice about anything I say in front of him.

I don't know that he's making this stuff up. Certainly there is likely some level of truth there. I do think he's using this as an opportunity to exert his influence and get someone favorable to himself at the monastery.

Captain Pablo said:

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AustinAg2K said:

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Dies Irae said:

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AustinAg2K said:

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AggieRain said:

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Quote:

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This comes after Olson initiated an investigation into Reverend Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach, whom Olson accused of violating her vow of chastity with a priest from outside the Diocese of Fort Worth.

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The sister in a wheelchair?

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It wasn't a physical relationship. Apparently she had impure thoughts or something like that. I don't know where anyone gets that Olsen is a top 5 bishop, but from multiple people I know who have worked with him (or had run ins with him) he's a major ahole with a power trip. Basically, if you don't agree with, you're out. I think that's basically what is happening here.

---

Well she claimed she "missed her period" after being with him, and admitted to sexting so it was more than just impure thoughts, and an investigation found evidence of an affair.

Between that and the drug paraphernalia this is far more than "the bishop is on a power trip"

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12240209/amp/Texas-bishop-releases-recording-nuns-confession-sexting.html

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Ok, so they sexted. I'm still not sure how that's a big deal. As a Christian, I would think the Bishop would take a forgiving approach to things, but it doesn't seem he ever intended to do that. The fact that the Bishop is recording conversations gives me a lot of pause. I think it strengthens the point that he's looking for ways to increase his grip on things. I certainly would think twice about anything I say in front of him.

I don't know that he's making this stuff up. Certainly there is likely some level of truth there. I do think he's using this as an opportunity to exert his influence and get someone favorable to himself at the monastery.

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Well, you sure moved the goalposts fast on that one

None of what you said amounts to anything more than a dislike for the bishop, and a disagreement with how he handled things.

Doesn't mean he is wrong or bad.

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I didn't intend to move the goal post. I don't follow this story daily, but am interested and occasionally check up on it. I had not heard that she admitted to sexting. The last I heard they had never met, and had only talked on the phone. I think the priest claimed that he had never broken his vows. It's still not clear to me if they ever met or not. The sexting thing is news to me, but that's hardly the same thing as having a sex with someone, which is definitely what is being implied.

I definitely dislike the Bishop, even before this latest scandal. That's mainly because I know multiple people who have had run ins with him, and the stories all have similarities to this one. Basically, if he dislikes you, he looks for a reason to push you out. Him recording conversations with people is a huge red flag to me. I feel like you should feel comfortable to speak openly with your priest/pastor.

Perhaps, as a Christian, you should forgive the Bishop and give him a fair chance. Sounds like you were biased going into this. I think he's an excellent Bishop, personally.

Texas Carmelites reject oversight of Vatican-appointed federation
By Michelle La Rosa - The Pillar

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Carmelite nuns at a Texas monastery say they will not accept the Vatican's designation of a U.S. Carmelite federation to oversee them, amid an ongoing dispute with their local bishop.

An April 20 statement from the Arlington Carmel described the entrustment of their monastery to the Carmelite Association of Christ the King as "a hostile takeover that we cannot in conscience accept."

"To accept this would risk the integrity of our monastery as a community, threatening the vocations of individual nuns, our liturgical and spiritual life and the material assets of the monastery," the statement said.

"Accordingly, neither the President of the Association of Christ the King, nor any delegate of hers, is welcome to enter our monastery at this time."

The statement comes two days after Bishop Michael Olson of Fort Worth announced that the Vatican's Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life had approved a request from the Association of Christ the King (USA) to be given direct governance and oversight of the convent.

Effective immediately, he said, the president of the association is the lawful superior of the Arlington Carmel.

The Association of Christ the King is a federation of Carmelite monasteries to which the Arlington convent belongs.

In a letter to the monastery last week, officials at the Vatican's Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life noted that the leadership term for the Carmelites' prioress expired in January 2024.

The local bishop is responsible for presiding over new elections, according to the Carmelites' constitutions. But given the community's dispute with the bishop, and rejection of some of his authority, the sisters are currently without lawful governance, the dicastery said in explaining its decision to entrust the convent to the Carmelite federation.

The nuns of the Carmelite Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity have been locked in a dispute with Bishop Olson for the past year.

Last spring, Olson initiated a canonical investigation into the community's superior, Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach, for allegedly admitting to violating her vow of chastity with an initially unnamed priest.

Lawyers for the convent and for Gerlach, both civil and canonical, have said that her supposed admission of an affair was made following a serious medical procedure, under the influence of painkillers, and when she was in and out of lucidity.

Olson, however, said the prioress had repeated her admission to him during an in-person conversation, in the presence of several other individuals, and later released audio recordings seeming to confirm this. He said Gerlach was lucid and spoke clearly at the time, and was not recovering from surgery at the time.

The dispute has been bitter and at times bizarre, including a million-dollar lawsuit filed by the nuns against Olson, a move by the bishop to restrict the sisters' access to the sacraments - which was rescinded days later - and images released by the Diocese of Fort Worth purporting to show tables inside the convent strewn with large amounts of drug paraphernalia.

Last June, the Vatican appointed Olson "pontifical commissary" for the sisters and retroactively sanated any and all canonical procedural issues raised by Olson's previous actions involving the monastery.

Olson subsequently issued a decree dismissing Gerlach.

However, the nuns have apparently continued to recognize Gerlach as their superior.

Last August, the nuns released a statement rejecting Olson's authority. They said that they did not owe him obedience or cooperation after enduring months of "unprecedented interference, intimidation, aggression, private and public humiliation and spiritual manipulation."

When Olson suggested that their statement may have incurred a latae sententiae excommunication, the sisters then released a new statement which claimed to recognize Olson's authority as diocesan bishop, while also rejecting his Vatican-conferred authority to intervene over the Carmelite community.

"The Arlington Carmelite nuns are not, and have no intention of, separating from the Catholic Church despite the incongruous statement made by the bishop. They remain dedicated to the Catholic Church and the Holy See and pray that the Vatican will put an end to this malicious persecution by the bishop. The Arlington Carmelite Nuns recognize the bishop as the local ordinary and respect his role therein," said an August 2023 statement from the nuns' lawyer.

"The Arlington Carmelite Nuns do not and will not recognize this bishop's unwarranted and unauthorized abuse and wielding of the complete power he suddenly is trying to exercise over the Monastery."

In their new statement, the Carmelites said they are grateful that Olson is no longer their pontifical commissary, but said they are still waiting for responses to their multiple appeals to Rome, which include claims that the bishop had employed powers reserved for a criminal canonical investigation despite the mother superior's alleged actions while sinful not constituting a specific crime in canon law.

While the Vatican's letter had instructed the sisters to withdraw and rescind their declaration partially rejecting Olson's authority, the nuns in their statement reiterated that they "have had to withdraw our cooperation in respect of the unjust exercise of any authority over us by the current Bishop of Fort Worth" and said that the bishop and his delegates are unwelcome at the monastery.

In their most recent statement, the sisters suggested that they are currently using the pre-Vatican II liturgical rites, in apparent disobedience to Olson's liturgical oversight of the community.

The nuns said they are deriving strength from "our further and deeper immersion in the riches of the usus antiquior (the traditional Latin Mass and Divine Office, etc). This is something which we, as a community, have desired for many, many years now and which we had begun to explore some time ago, but that in the end the Bishop opposed."

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So now they're working towards excommunicating themselves.

"Pre-Vatican II liturgical rites"

TLM.

Do you see where this is going? Can you not see the connections?

I suspect that this dust up has more to do with Cor Orans than the so-called liturgy wars.

Quote:

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Under Cor Orans, every monastery is required to join a federation, and if they do not, they are forcibly enrolled. Federations violate the autonomy of monasteries dictated in the rules of their saintly foundresses, such as the discalced Carmelites. St. Teresa of Avila, for instance, was adamant that monasteries maintain strict autonomy from each other and from other monastic governing structures, especially federationsa tradition reaffirmed by Pope John Paul II in 1990. Cor Orans takes away this long-recognized monastic autonomy. Carballo describes it as a "privilege" that, under his regulations, the federation's president can decide to take away from a monasterybasically at her own discretion and with wide room for cause.

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https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/why-is-the-vatican-assailing-contemplative-life


The letter from the nuns is interesting. They make a claim of spiritual abuse against +Olsen. As such, they are distancing themselves from him.

http://www.carmelnuns.com/


Perhaps the liturgy is a part of this, but I have not seen a satisfactory account of why the mother superior was interviewed while under the influence of medication (recreationally illegal, but medically legal) and how said testimony has standing. I have read speculation that this is about real estate.

Regardless of this particular case, Cor Orans has been at the heart of the closing of many convents and carmels.